23rd May 2019 - Andrew

At 6pm we dress up smart and head for some fine cuisine at Selene in Pyrgos. This little town on a hill inland is very pretty and we walk briefly into its central square - lots of kids and everyday people are around eating or talking - the place has a nice feel.

Just off the main square is Selene which we enter in our finery and are shown to an outside table overlooking the huge vista. As darkness falls and the half-moon shines we are fed fine food with a bottle of Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko.

The food is excellent and very refined - fine dining with excellent local ingredients and interesting flavours and textures. A quick food list: Squid and other seafood with a fine mussel broth, dried scallop and confit lemon. Fish, eel and shellfish in a capsicum sauce based on the old ways of preserving seafood in sea water. Rooster leg stuffed with other bits of rooster with a gamey rooster jus. Poached cod - perfect texture, brilliant. Covered in tomato souffle and an intense green sauce. Ode to Vegetables Desert! The most amazing desert which all works: Parsley root mousse, onion caramel, arugula sorbet, olive oil crumb and coffee sprinkle. Strawberry thing - Strawberry ceviche, chilli, strawberry sorbet and strawberry sauce.

We finish with some high end mastic digestive and a great brandy. Altogether a wonderful meal and evening - the perfect last night in Santorini.

23rd May 2019 - Cara

The staff at Selene were lovely. The older woman was so proud of the food - she must own it or be seriously involved. The younger waiter told us about the high point of the island we saw behind us - it is a monastery - well worth visiting for five minutes “with a coffee because I’m Greek”. He also points out another building half way down, embedded in the mountainside. Another monastery well hidden from pirates but don't visit there as you climb a lot of steps and it’s all locked up anyway.

He also vibed with us about visiting Japan. He, like many others here, works seven days a week for eight months, then holidays for four months (and works to pay for his travels). He loves snowboarding and wants to go to Japan but the lack of language makes it less rich as a holiday experience.

Selene served the wine us a magnificent decanter. First they place a bowl of ice then the decanter fits over it to keep the wine cool - like a sculpture.

The mastic digestive was gorgeous.

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